For the purpose of Still-Life primary sources must be used, obviously. It is a good idea to encourage your students to collect their own objects while keeping a theme of some sorts in mind. This ensures that the students will have more interest in the object and therefore, the interest, may last the course of the exercise.
The introduction to this exercise is a good place to bring in some Art History and Appreciation. I try to mix the work of the old masters with some contemporary work that the students may relate to. Cezanne is always a good place to start as his the Physicallity of his painted objects is very vivid. Also, his use of complementary colour schemes within his painting gives the students an access point to simple colour theory.
Paul Cezanne Stilleben, Ingwertop 1890 - 1893
Sir William Orpen Reflections, China and Japan, 1902
A favourite of mine to reference as well is our very own William Orpen. This Still Life is housed in the Hugh Lane gallery. It is very much in contrast to the Cezanne work. Orpen, often criticised by the Art critics of the 20th Century as being a technician has been held in high regard by many well known artists. He taught many such as Harry Clarke and Sean Keating. The latter, Keating can be heard talking about Orpen's smoothness in creating a line and form with his pencil. A true master technician if he is to be called one.
Tjaaf Sparanaay, Baked Potato
This is a good time to discuss the elements of composition with the class. The rule of thirds, focal point and leading lines are a good place to start. More advanced elements like balance, space and narrative can be discussed as they start to appear in the work.
At first, we arranged the objects in the middle of the table making sure that each person had an interesting view
Exploring Leading Lines
Exploring the objects as a shape
Exploring the rule of thirds with the eye of
the mask as a focal point.
Exploring a circle motif
Adding space to the composition
Once the compostional studies are complete or close to it may be a good time to introduce colour theory. The idea of using proposed colour schemes will be new to most students, especially in the younger years. Cezanne, also is a good example to use here as he and the likes of Monet and Van gogh work with particular colour shemes to achieve the light in their paintings. This is normally the complementary colour scheme for these artists.
I would suggest for your students to have a sheet for testing out different colours and brushstrokes. The blocking in of colour which is the next step in the painting is normally done with neutral colours.
An example of the neutral scale
Testing Colour Sheet
I also used my test painting sheet for some of the colour tests
It is important to talk about the different effects you get from different brush strokes and the different brushes used;
Not all of these brushes will be available for your students to use but it is important for them to know that different brushes will be used to get preferred effects.
For my main painting once I had enough exploring done I started with lightly blocking in the neutral tones. I started with a light blue wash for the background. I followed this with a light wash of yellow ochre for the main objects, a light red for the cloth and a very light burnt umber for the candle holder. It is important to introduce the students to the idea of layering paint.
In most schools colours like burnt umber and yellow ochre and burnt sienna are not readily available so the students will have to mix these. If you are lucky enough to be in a school that do have this range in colours reassure the students they are not trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to colour mixing. These colours are a staple in many painting sets as slight variations in thes colours will more than likely give you the colour you are looking for. On the contrary also, new and vibrant colours from experimentation are also a welcome addition to any painting.
On coming to near completion of my painting I ran into trouble with achieving depth in my composition. This was due to the glass sculpture sitting in the foreground of the piece. If I were to set it up again I would place this object in the background as I could use its lighter tones to achieve more depth. It was uggested by one of my peers that it was a nice break in the composition but I believe she might have just been trying to be kind. This kind of problem I would be able to solve given more time on the piece but in hindsight rearranging the composition would suit the time given on the lesson better.
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